The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily distinguished from the Electra by its distinctive tail stinger or "MAD" boom, used for the magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) of submarines.
Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology, is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures, which covers a range of methods used to make personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, missiles, satellites, and ground vehicles less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods. It corresponds to military camouflage for these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles — in particular anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-ship warfare (AShW), and search and rescue (SAR).
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an interrogation signal and then sends a response that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usually use radar frequencies, but other electromagnetic frequencies, radio or infrared, may be used. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator. IFF is used by both military and civilian aircraft. IFF was first developed during World War II, with the arrival of radar, and several friendly fire incidents.
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological development and prototyping. The laboratory's specialties include plasma physics, space physics, materials science, and tactical electronic warfare. NRL is one of the first US government scientific R&D laboratories, having opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison, and is currently under the Office of Naval Research.
The I-400-class submarine Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarines were the largest submarines of World War II and remained the largest ever built until the construction of nuclear ballistic missile submarines in the 1960s. The IJN called this type of submarine Sentoku type submarine. The type name was shortened to Toku-gata Sensuikan. They were submarine aircraft carriers able to carry three Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft underwater to their destinations. They were designed to surface, launch their planes, then quickly dive again before they were discovered. They also carried torpedoes for close-range combat.
An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy. The system may make many separate targets appear to the enemy, or make the real target appear to disappear or move about randomly. It is used effectively to protect aircraft from guided missiles. Most air forces use ECM to protect their aircraft from attack. It has also been deployed by military ships and recently on some advanced tanks to fool laser/IR guided missiles. It is frequently coupled with stealth advances so that the ECM systems have an easier job. Offensive ECM often takes the form of jamming. Self-protecting (defensive) ECM includes using blip enhancement and jamming of missile terminal homers.
The history of radar started with experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century that showed that radio waves were reflected by metallic objects. This possibility was suggested in James Clerk Maxwell's seminal work on electromagnetism. However, it was not until the early 20th century that systems able to use these principles were becoming widely available, and it was German inventor Christian Hülsmeyer who first used them to build a simple ship detection device intended to help avoid collisions in fog. True radar, such as the British Chain Home early warning system provided directional information to objects over short ranges, were developed over the next two decades.
The U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory (NEL) was created in 1945, with consolidation of the naval radio station, radar operators training school, and radio security activity of the Navy Radio and Sound Lab (NRSL) and its wartime partner, the University of California Division of War Research. NEL’s charter was “to effectuate the solution of any problem in the field of electronics, in connection with the design, procurement, testing, installation and maintenance of electronic equipment for the U.S. Navy.” Its radio communications and sonar work was augmented with basic research in the propagation of electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere and of sound in the ocean.
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.
Albert Hoyt Taylor was an American electrical engineer who made important early contributions to the development of radar.
Typhon was a missile system developed by the United States Navy in the late 1950s, intended to serve as an integrated air-defense system for Navy fleets. Consisting of the SAM-N-8 Typhon LR, later designated RIM-50A, and the SAM-N-9 Typhon MR, later RIM-55A, paired with the AN/SPG-59 radar system, the cost and expense of the Typhon system led to it being cancelled in favor of the Standard Missile program.
Robert Morris Page was an American physicist who was a leading figure in the development of radar technology. Later, Page served as the Director of Research for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
The 1st Search Attack Group was a United States Army Air Forces unit that served during World War II. Its last assignment was with First Air Force. It was based at Langley Field, Virginia throughout its existence, and equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Douglas B-18 Bolo, and Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft. It was disbanded on 20 April 1944.
Leo C. Young was an American radio engineer who had many accomplishments during a long career at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Although self-educated, he was a member of a small, creative team which some attributed to the developing the world's first true radar system.
Radar in World War II greatly influenced many important aspects of the conflict. This revolutionary new technology of radio-based detection and tracking was used by both the Allies and Axis powers in World War II, which had evolved independently in a number of nations during the mid 1930s. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, both Great Britain and Germany had functioning radar systems. In Great Britain, it was called RDF, Range and Direction Finding, while in Germany the name Funkmeß (radio-measuring) was used, with apparatuses called Funkmessgerät . By the time of the Battle of Britain in mid-1940, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had fully integrated RDF as part of the national air defence.
Naval Air Facility Adak, was a United States Navy airport located west of Adak, on Adak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. After its closure in 1997, it was reopened as Adak Airport. The facility was designated a National Historic Landmark for its role in World War II, although most of its elements from that period have been demolished or lie in ruins.
Maxwell K. Goldstein was a first generation Jewish-American scientist and engineer who was instrumental in the development and deployment of high-frequency direction finding by the United States Navy during the Second World War. High-frequency direction finding played a significant role in the Allies efforts to counter the threat of German U-boats (submarines) during the Battle of the Atlantic. This success helped ensure the continued flow of equipment and supplies from the United States to Britain and to European battlefields, which was a critical factor in the ultimate Allied victory. Following World War II, Goldstein founded Balco Research Laboratory, which specialized in high resistance capacitors used in numerous military, civilian, and NASA projects.
The AN/APS-20 was an airborne early warning, anti-submarine, maritime surveillance and weather radar developed in the United States in the 1940s. Entering service in 1945, it served for nearly half a century, finally being retired in 1991. Initially developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Project Cadillac, the radar was developed to be carried by aircraft to extend the sensor range of ships by placing a radar at altitude. Although developed for carrier-borne operation, first being installed in the single-engined General Motors TBM-3W Avenger, it was also used in larger four-engined airframes, the last being a fleet of Avro Shackleton AEW.2 which were converted from maritime patrol aircraft. Similarly, although developed for detecting aircraft, it saw extensive service in anti-submarine and maritime patrol roles and was one of the first radars to be used in researching extreme weather like hurricanes by agencies like the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). As well as the United States, the radar was used by a large number of services in other countries, including the French Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Early versions of the radar could see a low-flying aircraft at 65 nautical miles and a ship at 200 nautical miles. This was improved, so that later versions had a range against aerial targets of 115 nautical miles.
SMART is a canister-based, long-range anti-submarine missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Navy.
